January 15, 2013 – CHINA – Residents in the village of Lianyuan in southern China’s Hunan Province have been treading rather gingerly these last few months. Over 20 sinkholes have opened up in the ground since last September. The cave-ins, which range in size, have seen houses collapse and rivers run dry. And there is never any warning as to where and when the sinkholes occur. According to local authorities, the main reason for the cave-ins is the number of coalmines in the area. It is not clear what steps are being taken to prevent further sinkholes from appearing. –MSN

14 Responses to World still grappling with epidemic of sinkholes: Chinese village suffers over 20 sinkholes in five months

I find it interesting that many countries are (worryingly) experiencing the occurrences/appearances of these sinkholes. I don’t know of any sinkholes, because of mining or other reason, to have appeared in Australia (where I am), unless someone can correct me on that.
It would be a very unnerving feeling not knowing if the ground beneath you and/or your home may ‘give-way’ at any point.

From what İ understood, these sinkholes were first linked to the fraction oil drilling, but lately it seems to be happening because of the savage water pumping, and as most of the water is exported elsewhere…also because of the concrete in the cities, rain water cannot go back into the soil, instead it goes back to the ocean, unfullfilling a cycle, and adding more water for the tornadoes…actually we deserve all of the “natural disasters” cause they’re all man made

That was scary/disturbing footage of the car been submerged into the sinkhole! Alvin, are more sinkholes searing around the world, or is this a normal phenomenon that’s simply getting more coverage? Quite a few have appeared here in Texas, and I don’t recall hearing very much about such a thing before about three years ago. Is this a form of liquefaction of the Earth’s crust?

It is the polar shift.The earth is slowing down in rotation.It will soon stop and reverse.I have read that the sun rises and sets in a different place now especially noticed in Alaska and Iceland.From what it read the North Pole has shifted more towards Russia.The die off of birds and sea life are still going on, the news is not reporting these like they did last year in 2012.I believe these birds and sea life are loosing their natural compass.Something is going on,we are not being told the truth but have to research ourselves to find an answer.Unfortunately bad people in government are taking advantage of the situation (just my opinion).Linking all these activities and why our US is preparing for something catastrophic says something,shouldn’t it? Families,communities should come together and not divide because lives will depend on our responsiveness.

I am curious,is there no way to fill these sinkholes in or do they just keep sinking in,seems like if its a mine caving in,wouldnt you be able to fill that in or do I just not understand what a sinkhole is?

When you take something out of the ground, you should put something back in it’s place. We can’t keep taking water, gas, gravel, coal out of the ground and not replacing it with something. All these empty holes, tunnels, caverns will collapse eventually. Too many people are eating up the Earth. :'(